For Now
by Kitsunefan203
Summary: PharoMina/RyoMina ...For now...I must leave you, but I won't be always gone... Switches between PharoMina an RyoMina; based around Ryoji's appearance after Shinjiro's death...
1. For NowI Must Leave

Chapter 1-For Now…It Must End…But Just…For Now…

Chapter 1-For Now…It Must End…But Just…For Now…

"_...For now…I must leave you…"_

"_No…please don't go…Please stay…"_

_Stripes ran down his arms as the soft fingers that had always touched him in such a way that made a soft shudder run through all of his senses, every part of his being and just want to run his fingers up the striped wrist and pull the boy into his arms. Ravish the lips that were offering a kind smile of goodbye, leave them bruised and marked with teeth marks just to hear him gasp, moan and scream as his face would twist into a soft, innocent look of innocence. A soft smile offered itself as the boy in the stripes leaned forward, lips softly pulled into what could've been to place a soft kiss on the sorrowful ones, but his eyes watched as the boy simply kissed him on the forehead._

_The crushed spirit of the young man's ears perked up at the boy's voice, "I will still be here…" a soft smile offered itself against his lips again, "Someone like me doesn't disappear that easily…think of me as a kind of…Guardian Angel…"_

"_But…" the sorrowful figure was never one to seem like the weaker part of the short term relationship, but the one that had been his half to make him feel whole in the longest time, whole in ten years, "…I would be lost without you…please don't leave me…"_

_Stripes softly sighed as he sat on Sorrowful's bedside, draping his striped arms around Sorrowful's neck as Stripes sat in Sorrowful's lap, softly blowing on his neck, tracing the edge of his ear with the tips of his teeth, grazing it, "I really must go…I can't stay here much longer…I promise I will come back…"_

_Sorrowful seemed to whimper at Stripes actions against his ear and the way the heat of his breath just made his skin tingle, "…You promise…?"_

"_I promise…" _

"…_Good…" Sorrowful's teeth grazed in against Stripes' throat, sinking his teeth gently into Stripes' pulse point that earned Sorrowful a gasping and yet airy moan that pushed him on to do it more._

_Stripes was lost to Sorrowful's teeth and the marks being left on his neck, the stripes began shift as Sorrowful's hand moved up under the stripes, teasing hard at the nubs on Stripes' chest earning more moans and airy gasps from Stripes that had Sorrowful's mind going crazy. He wanted and needed to hear those sounds again, but all of those sounds were going to not only his ears, but they were going to his loins and the closer he came down on Stripes, the more Stripes would whimper, his loins had grown hard in the time of hearing just the soft airy gasps as his loins jabbed in against Stripes' thigh. Sorrowful was lost to those gasps and groans as Sorrowful was unwilling to stop as he drove on, listening to the sounds of Stripes groaning and moaning under him as the night was riddled by the sounds of airy gasps and moans, with laced traces of mewls as any screams were captured in an unique little box, more or less cavern. Sorrowful had locked all of Stripes' screams away as he drove onward against and inside of Stripes, filling his tiny body with sensations that time and time again they had felt and filled one another with; it was not something that was foreign to them. Stripes had instigated their relationship and was to be the one to end it, but Sorrowful didn't want that to end; he made it known that he didn't want them to be over as he drove inside of Stripes, harder and harder, changing position, direction, and speed; each and every time, feeling how the heat seemed to rise and fall, change with each changing peace, but it stoked higher and hotter as Sorrowful raised Stripes legs to push up and over Stripes' head, pushing all limits. _

_There was a break in between them as both boy's screamed out into the night, and would last until the dawn when Sorrowful would awaken, the sheets were kept as tidy and straight as they had been before Stripes' appearance. All the soreness that would've been associated with his nightly activities with Stripes wasn't there, his clothes were still on him, there were no signs of sweat, tears, drips of blood stains or the marks of shared juices that had come from both of them when both had reached their climax. None of that was there; he was truly gone, it had all been merely a dream, or so his mind told him it was._

"Minato…you awake?" the quiet voice of the young teal haired woman, Fuuka came through the door, "Yukari asked me to wake you up for school, you're going to miss Class if you don't wake up and Mitsuru-senpai and Akihiko-senpai have also said that we're going to meet afterschool to talk about going to Tartarus tonight."

A soft groan came out of the simply made up bed as crushed blue velvet hair tossed itself over the sleeping figure's eyes as the eyes looked at the clock, it was too early by Minato's standards, but he knew if he wasn't up and at School; he was going to hear it from his Sensei, and everyone knew not to cross that woman, "I'm coming, Fuuka…"

Fuuka softly smiled as she turned on her heels to go and wake up Akihiko, "Akihiko…It's morning," Fuuka could hear the sounds of Koromaru softly barking from at the end of the hallway; she cracked the door open, Akihiko was of course up long before Fuuka had started going about to wake the others up.

"Morning Koromaru," Fuuka called to the dog down the hallway.

Koromaru followed after Fuuka as she took the hint that Akihiko wasn't in his room, "Come on, Koromaru, let's go get Jun-kun…I bet you a handful of dog treats that he stayed up late again playing that silly game of his again."

"Woof!" Koromaru agreed; Junpei spent too much on that game unit and not enough time on his studies, no wonder the Teacher always called on him; it was to keep him on his toes.

A solemn figure sat upon the branches of a neighboring tree, the breeze seemed to dance through its branches of oak and maple, but there was something different about this tree, a wavering flag in a way of yellow trimmed in black seemed to waft with the breeze. Leaves and varying kinds of debris seemed to brush past the figure in the tree as the wind seemed to bypass the windswept, slicked back hairs that seemed to brushed back against the top of the figure's head, the wind couldn't seem to find itself or space enough to slip under the suspender's on the figure's clothing. It was as if the suspenders themselves were attached the pressed white dress shirt that was neatly tucked inside of the long, black, straight legged trousers. A soft smile played its key with the sounds of the morning breeze blowing past him as he watched from a distance as Minato got ready for school; same old outfit, the uniformed uniform Jacket with the lapel colors of the High School with a crisp, white dress shirt tied around with a black stringed ribbon around his neck, and the finishing touch.

"…You always liked music, a way to tune out the realities of this World…" the smile widened on the figure's face as soft eyes watched as the trademark headphones and lanyard MP3 player found itself around Minato's ears and neck, "…And a way to tune you into what is _really _going on around you…You signed a contract…that you would take responsibility for your actions. I've come to make sure you keep to the Contract's guidelines…Minato Arisato."

A soft giggling voice seemed to come to sit down beside the solemn figure, "You are such a little pervert, Ryo-kun…You were even bigger one with the way you seduced Master when you were Pharos," the young girl seemed to be of the age of seven or eight and was dressed in what could have been a Summer dress, but it was styled in blue, with a belly like appearance from the neck to a few inches above the bottom hem in a color of white, "…You're going to keep your promise to come back to him…aren't you?"

A sound of the bedroom door opening and then closing as Minato had disappeared in the amount of time it had taken the solemn figure, known and called by name by the little girl to be named, Ryoji, brought Ryoji back to a train of thought as he looked to the young woman. She was much like him, not human and yet, not a demon, if it were possible for Persona's to be seen outside of the hour of Dark Hour or to be summoned within the Daylight, many who did not understand the very concepts of Persona's, would claim them to be Demons.

"I had to come back, Alice…it is my duty as the Arcana and Persona of Death itself…I had to be sure that he will keep to his end of the bargain he made when he first came to this place," Ryoji's eyes softly closed, "To take responsibility for all of his actions, even…being the one to save this world from The Fall, and taking myself…out of this World, when the time calls for it."

Alice softly sighed as she let her feet kick in the air as her eyes rolled back in a mock annoyance; "Such a downer…," Ryoji glanced her way which earned him a soft giggle from the younger Persona, "That's why…you and Master…are perfect for one another. You…complete…him."

"Goodbye Koromaru, I'll come back during Lunchtime to feed you, but hopefully by then Shinji-kun will be awake, so he can feed you," Fuuka's voice wafted up to the tree where the two Persona's sat watching the young female human, "Come on Junpei, you don't want to be late now do you?"

Junpei was the next to emerge, same old Junpei, wearing the same old hat and same old scowl, "Yeah, yeah, I'm coming…its not like I'm in any big hurry to fail yet another test."

Mitsuru and Akihiko tended to walk out together; they were considerably the backbone structure formers of S.E.E.S. and the stand in Heads for the Group when the Head of S.E.E.S. wasn't around; Aigis walked out with the youngest of the S.E.E.S. members, Ken, walking at her side. The one that wasn't seen yet was the one that Ryoji was interested in seeing; he wanted to see that face that had drawn him into growing closer to him in connection then any of the other Arcana's and Persona's, the door once again opened and closed, but it was only Yukari.

"I guess Master isn't going to go school today," Alice seemed to cheerfully point out which she knew was meant to hurt Ryoji, but Ryoji still held out hope, "Ryoji?"

Her attention got drawn to the doors again as a hint of crushed blue velvet started to peek out of the doors as they were about to close from behind Yukari, "…Minato…" Ryoji's voice was soft as he saw the object he had been only shortly before been eying like an old man pervert spying on a group of young College girls.

Alice saw that it was time that she left her older Persona acquaintance alone to his daydreaming, "I suggest you start heading for the School as well, Ryo-kun that was your plan wasn't it? In order to get closer to Master again you were going to enroll in his school weren't you?"

Ryoji was gone by the time the other question was being formed, "I guess that…is a Yes?"

As easily as she had appeared, she disappeared just as quickly as she watched Ryoji head off into the general direction of the High School; there were several things running through Ryoji's mind, would Minato even recognize him or even recognize the things that he had only done as Pharos? Had Minato forgotten about Pharos and even if Ryoji were to say something that only Pharos would have said, how would Minato react? Would he scream at him, hate him, what could he possibly do and what would he do; he had left Minato without so much as a way of telling him that when he came back, like he promised, he would not be the same as he had remembered him. The school started to come into view as Ryoji slowed down, catching his breath as well as looking over his appearance, not a thing was out of place. No one seemed to take notice that a new student had joined the school and wasn't wearing the school Uniform, the sight of a student in suspenders, slacks, white dress shirt and a yellow scarf fringed black would've stood out, but no one seemed to take notice. The members of S.E.E.S had already made their way to the school, but Minato was tailing behind, seeming to just walk at a pace slower then the others, even if Junpei was hanging off of him trying to get him to loosen up and lighten up. There were limits to how much one person could take of Junpei, Minato just endured him while the others just seemed to pretend like they didn't notice he was existent during the moments he was a constant annoyance.

"Come on dude, why the downer routine lately?" Junpei had to think more on that statement, "Never mind, I understand why you're sad, back to school to face yet another year of many rejections from girls that will never be in our league."

Yukari could be heard chuckling behind Junpei as Akihiko gave him a light shove, "No, that's your excuse and reason for being such a downer, Junpei, you just try too hard," she chuckled again as she reveled in Junpei's realized humiliation.

"…There is one girl that might like me."

"Let me guess your Mo-"

"IT'S NOT MY MOM!"

"Yeah right, you know it is, come on…"

"Grrr! YUKARI!" the others watched as Junpei chased after Yukari as all she could do was chuckle and make fun of Junpei's lack of "feminine magnetism".

Ryoji had ducked behind a wall as he watched the sight before him, the people that had become Minato's friends were all laughing, but yet, Minato, wasn't, no matter what the others did to cheer him up and bring back the smile that had time and time again melt the heart, or therefore, lack of a heart within Pharos. The bell rang again as he watched the students starting to file into the school, a simple gesture to Ryoji that he should get into the Administrator's office and register for school so that he could be, at least he hoped to be, in Minato's class. He had seemed to had won over the Administration staff; it never was too hard or easy for Ryoji do such things, his charm was by far the most irresistible kind of charm there was, it could've been from the fact he was a Persona and with each Persona they possessed what was called Karin Marin, a form of charm that when used on a Team member during fights in Tartarus, it could make both the fighter and Persona turn on others of the Team. Ryoji had perfected it to the point he could charm his way through anything, even walking down the Hall to Minato's classroom without once being stopped by a Hall Monitor or Teacher.

The classroom was a jumble of mixed conversations that became halted as the Teacher took her place at the front of the classroom, "Class, I want you to welcome a new student to our Class," Ryoji walked forward as his face seemed to light up the room; Junpei especially took notice of the kid.

"Hello, my name is Ryoji Mochizuki, I'm very glad to be here with all of you," some of the girls seemed to be intrigued by him, some going as far as to say he was cute, while the boys in the class only grumbled about the fact that they had no competition.

"Thank you Ryoji, you may take a seat over there," Ryoji was to be seated a couple of rows up from Minato, but not too far from him; it was everything he had wanted, just to have a slight chance to be able to steal quick glances at Minato, "Now, back to what we were studying…"

A chorus sprung out around the room as books and their pages began to open and papers shifted and moved about as the students began their lesson for the day, as Ryoji gathered up the necessary items; he snuck a look towards Minato who seemed like a kicked puppy who just wanted the day to be over so he could go home and hide from the world.

_I've come back…like I promised…Minato…_


	2. What Matters Most Is

Chapter 2-What Matters Most Is…

Chapter 2-What Matters Most Is…

"And that's the lesson for today," the Teacher seemed to have a smile on her face that was a mix of devious and yet, 'I know you'll understand it and retain it for later when it matters', "You're welcome to leave at the bell."

Groans and satisfied, but yet, just happy to be done with the day as well as to be done with sitting in a classroom, "Man, I never thought it would end," Junpei was the first to exclaim out loud to the entire classroom what he was sure everyone else was just thinking in their heads.

"Would you like an extra assignment for homework, Junpei?"

"No ma'am, I'm quiet happy with the assignment you gave us that I will happily do with a big smile on my face!"

A small crowd of laughter seemed to come out but Yukari was less then impressed as she went to stand beside Minato's desk, but she was beaten to the punch as she saw the new student walking up to Minato's desk, but he didn't stick around. There was a small scrap of paper placed beside Minato's hand as he slipped out of the room; it left Yukari with a feeling of, 'what just happened?'

"Hey Minato, what was all that about?" Yukari motioned towards the note that had been slipped close to Minato's hand, as she attempted to take the note; Minato seemed to slip into his pocket, "Minato?"

"It was nothing…" Minato slipped out past her as he walked out towards the cabinets where the students would store their shoes before they put on their shoes they wore around the hallways of the school.

Ryoji watched as the other students seemed to slip out from the school and head for home, but Ryoji stayed, waiting for Minato to show up in hopes that he had read the note and would answer to it, "Hey."

The sound of a voice calling to Ryoji turned his attention towards the crushed blue velvet headed teen, waving the note between his fingers; it hadn't even been opened, "Care to explain why you passed me this without giving an explanation…?"

"You don't remember me…do you…Minato…?"Ryoji crossed his arms in front of him as he leaned against the shelves, "I guess I shouldn't expect you to remember me right away since I have changed quiet a bit since our…last time…together…"

Minato looked the teen over, the way he talked didn't sound like any person he knew and it didn't help that just recently, the members of S.E.E.S. had lost a close friend, especially someone who had been close to Akihiko, now was not the time for someone to be playing guessing games with his head. There was something about how the words on the front of the note had been written, they in a way a form calligraphy, as if they had been written by delicate fingers. The words seemed to flow onto the paper and there had been only one person he knew had such a writing style.

There didn't seem to be any sign of acknowledgement, "…Heh, I guess…I guess I was wrong," Ryoji softly chuckled as he let his arms drop, walking off; "Sorry for wasting your time, Minato…"

"Ryoji…"Minato softly let out as he walked up to him, as Ryoji turned around; he was greeted with the note placed in the inside of his scarf only before Minato's fingers curled around the under cusp of Ryoji's scarf, pulling him close so he whisper in his ear, "…Stay…away from me…I don't need Death at my door right now. I've already lost one friend…and another up and left me. When he said love me."

A silent chill ran down Ryoji's spine, had Minato figured out that he was the Arcana, or even the Persona of Death itself? How did he know? Just the feel of his breath so close to his ear seemed to tingle against it, forcing him to hide away an airy moan at the feel of those lips so close. And yet, they weren't doing the things they used to do to them back when Minato was a happier person, and when he was…

"Hey! Minato!" Junpei waved his arms wildly as he called out to the boy as Minato let go off Ryoji, forcefully as he moved to Junpei, "Hey man, what was that all about?"

Minato took one last look back, "Just giving the new kid in class an introduction…"

Junpei was confused as he followed after the solemnly quiet young man as Minato seemed to tune the world out with the same old song burning through his ears was the sounds of the song 'Burn My Dread'; a song that seemed to work for the moment. Weeks prior, the members of S.E.E.S. had the unfortunate task of having to do in one of their own; it was still fresh in Minato's mind and only now was someone just appearing out of the blue into their class who seemed to have an almost hinted scent, much like a Persona. But did Persona's even have scents? There was just something about Ryoji that didn't settle well with Minato, the feeling only continued to linger around him like a dark cloud predicting that something bad was going to come. If only that had appeared when the time to kill Shinji had happened…

Junpei started noticing that Minato was distant as he waved a hand in his friend's face, "What's wrong with you, you've been quiet this whole time since we left school," it wasn't that hard to tell when something was bothering Minato, "Did he say something to you?"

"Hmm?" Minato momentarily took the headphones off, "You say something, Junpei?"

"Heh, forget about it, and forget about the new guy, we're going to go enjoy ourselves doing Karaoke!"

It all sounded like a well laid plan, but the sound of Mitsuru standing behind them with Akihiko not too far off soon crushed those dreams, "Have you forgotten tonight is when Dark Hour is coming on, Junpei or were you too busy in your own fantasy world to remember that?"

"Aww, come on Mitsuru-senpai…Just ONE night out!" Junpei was crashing and burning under Mitsuru's leering gaze; in other words, it was an out and right 'No', "Man…Just once I'd like to be able to a normal person for once."

"But you aren't, you've got a duty to do, or have you forgotten!" Yukari was furious now, but Mitsuru managed to rope her in as Yukari grew quiet; Minato hadn't forgotten what he had to do, "See you guys at the Dorm later."

Ryoji returned to his branch upon the tree limb as he watched the others returning, the sight of Minato returning with the headphones placed upon his ears once again in a way to block out the world; it seemed to sink Ryoji's heart as he watched Minato solemnly walking in to the building as if it was his tomb. The others seemed to walk past him in a fast motion, almost as if Minato was stuck in slow motion, just watching the world go by him, but Ryoji was snapped out of the vision he had seen of Minato just moving at a sloth as the sound of a sweet sounding childish laughter filled his ears as a pair of arms draped themselves down around Ryoji's neck as the tiny fingers seemed to play with the scarf about his neck.

"So, has he recognized you yet, Ryo-kun?" Alice had returned and was reveling in the fact that Ryoji had yet to find himself in the arms of Minato, "I can see you haven't been recognized because you aren't all marked up by Master…Aww, well, I'm sure it's for the best."

He wasn't in the mood to play games, "Go away Alice."

"Why Ryo-kun…can't I stay and play with you for a little while? It gets so lonely living away from you, you've had Master all to your little old self it's not fair."

There was a sound that turned both Personas' attention as the sound of Minato entering his room to go about his homework, but there was something that seemed to put Ryoji on alert. His note that he left with Minato at school only to have it be blatantly disregarded to his face afterschool was being held under Minato's nose; he was…smelling it; it was an odd behavior for Minato but the way Minato's shoulders and body seemed to shudder, it just said something to Ryoji. He had remembered him, the more Minato smelled it the longer the shudder remained to the point that Minato was almost hunched over his desk as a look of slight discomfort had come upon his face; Ryoji wanted to go to him and find out what was wrong but Ryoji watched in almost pure horror, it would've been horror if no one had ever seen it or done it themselves. Minato continued to smell it as a hitching sound was heard in his breath as now and again he was moaning; he was growing antsy in his seat as Minato started to scoot about the desk chair. The note found its way on to the desk as Minato placed his nose onto it, inhaling it as if it was a drug as one of Minato's hands clutched the side of the chair as the other started to undo his pants. Button top was the first as fingertips traced the trailing of the zipper, teasing the zipper pull as the inhalation grow more and more, the hands were enjoying teasing the uncomfortable feeling on Minato's face as his hips seemed to buck hard and fast against the air.

Alice peeked now and again from behind the scarf about Ryoji's neck as Ryoji watched on; he had already realized what Minato was planning to do, "What is Master doing, Ryoji? Why is he acting like that?" Alice didn't know what it was as she watched Minato forcefully push his pants down off his hips as well as the boxers he had been wearing, "What's he going to do, Ryoji?"

Ryoji's mouth grew dry at the sight, Minato had dressed down only the sight of his lower half; everything he had seen as Pharos was revealing itself out to the warm air of the room that only added to Minato's sounds he was merely grunting now and seething through his teeth as the scent off the paper, that seemed to be there for him, was only make him grow even more wilder. Minato was sitting in the desk chair with only his bare bottom sitting upon the grains of the chair, a hard on being hit by the faint heat in the room, what Minato did next would forever leave Ryoji wishing he had been the one doing it instead of letting some limb do what he was capable of doing.

"Ew! Master is touching himself!" Alice seemed to vanish as Ryoji continued to stare on at the sight; Ryoji started to feel the same tightness, but it was only in his mind as he continued to watch the show Minato was putting on.

Minato's hand that wasn't grabbing at the chair's side wrapped itself around the hardened problem as the hand gave a test squeeze which had Minato gasping as he let the joints of the fingers wrapped around it roll up and down the length only adding to the sensations and his responses. His thumb pressed, rolled and stroked the head of his erection that had Minato whimpering as he bit down on his lower lip as the ball of the thumb rolled around it as the fingers wrapped around the length rolled harder against the length that was making Minato's head fall back and his eyes were fluttering as they rolled back in his head. The speed in which the hand was moving began to pick up and speed up, everything picking up in the way they were running themselves over Minato's length and as he felt he was reaching climax, Minato's body started to throw itself back against the back of the chair as the hand worked its way over him as the under part of the desk was coated in his release. All that was left of Minato was a disheveled figure that was liable to be caught with their pants down if someone was to talk walk in at that moment, as well as one ruined desk and lack of virginity chair and under part of a desk. It took a moment for Minato gain to his self composure as he changed his boxers and pants and cleaned up the mess left on the chair and desk as he decided to catch a small nap before Dark Hour that night.

Everything that Ryoji had been thinking, all process, all mental thought and process of thinking was numb, the very sight of watching Minato jerking off to the mere scent that had found its way on his note to Minato.

"…M-Minato…"Ryoji was stuck in the spot on the tree limb as time that had stopped for that time started to pick up once again as silently as she come and yet left at the sight of her 'Master' pleasuring himself, Alice had returned.

Alice shyly sat down beside Ryoji, placing a child like hand on his leg that nearly caused Ryoji to come up swinging, but Alice managed to calm and subdue that beast, "What was that that Master was doing to himself, Ryo-kun? It seemed to look it was hurting him…"

How was Ryoji to explain masturbation to a Persona that was and possessed the mentality, being and personal identification of a little girl? How did he explain that it only hurt because the hurt was something that didn't come from the person jerking themselves off but from a deep pain, a lust that was eating at their very soul that just the thought of that person, a mental picture have you, of them in their thoughts, would make the person ache even more to the point it hurt. Ryoji had known that hurtful ache when he had spent his time as Pharos, the first night he had tempted to put himself in the position to push the limitations of his self being; he had found himself having to cure an ache that had formed just from Minato touching him and kissing him.

_Stripes sat in Sorrowful's lap, just enjoying his company as they read a book, but every now and then, there would be a stray sense of touching somewhere, Sorrowful would apologize, but Stripes' body would feel that it was a hint at something more. Stripes' body knew full well what Sorrowful wanted, Sorrowful wanted to touch him, not in a way that he was now; he wanted to touch him in ways to make him feel good, but every time Sorrowful's hands would get to that point they would trail away and find their way up in another pattern away from Stripes' body. Stripes had developed a way to hide the deep shudder that Sorrowful's touches brought on him._

"_I think that is enough for tonight…"Stripes closed the book as he uncomfortably shifted off the bed, tonight, it had been worse then the nights before, this time, something was poking through his striped leggings, but luckily, the room was dark enough to avoid Sorrowful from seeing it, "…You should get some sleep…I will come again tomorrow…I promise…"_

_Sorrowful knew that Stripes was right; it didn't take much for Sorrowful to fall asleep, the moment his head was back on the pillow, he was out like a light to the world; Stripes could only stand by and watch Sorrowful, but the sight of that angelic sleeping there, sleeping as if he hadn't felt the ache growing down in that one region that was growing on Stripes. Just thinking about it, seeing, and imagining it was making the ache harder as Stripes held the book up in one arm as his other hand gently brushed against the achy feeling. Just brushing a gentle brush of his hand against it made Stripes faintly gasp out, but it was instantly silenced as Stripes quickly disappeared from the room; Sorrowful sleeping unaware of the pain he was causing Stripes, when he never meant to intentionally hurt him. _

"…_It hurts…this ache…Mmnh…aaah…aaah…aaah…I need to…mnmngh!" Stripes stood out in the cool night air with the stripes now hanging down around his ankles as the bunched stripes around his wrists seemed to move up and down like a striped wave, "Mnmngh! M-M-M…"_

_Stripes could never bring himself, each night that the ache came on to saw Sorrowful's true name; it would only bring the ache on even more and no matter hard or fast he worked to rid his body of the ache, there would always be a new flood of ache there to fill it as became harder for the arousal to disappear. No matter how many ways he tried to make himself come, there was not luck for him; he done all he could think of, cold showers, tried masturbation to the point of even to the point of even straddling pillows by imagining they were Sorrowful to the point of even fingering himself which had become the final way to release his ache. But to hide the screams Stripes would scream out when his own fingers would find their way against the inner bodily functions of his body, but the screams were the most loudest when that final jab of his digits finally brought him release. It wasn't much longer after the many visits to Sorrowful only to relieve himself of the ache that Sorrowful had gotten the message that Stripes need him, needed him to be the one to release his ache, and Stripes was the one that Sorrowful needed to relieve his own ache. They had become attuned to one another's needs and desires, there were times on occasion when Stripes would forget when to leave Sorrowful because Sorrowful would always be tearful to see him leave, but he would always promise that he would come back so they could have their "fun". _

Ryoji had all but forgotten about those times, "…Minato…tonight…I will be your release…"

Dark Hour, a time when the world seemed to slow down and those that did not possess the power of summoning a Persona, or in Minato's case, multiple Persona's; these people who didn't possess the power were succumbed to being placed in a seemingly deep sleep. Blind and deaf to what was going on all the while they slept, anyone that was stumble upon the imagery of Dark Hour that was not aware they had the powers of summoning a Persona would've been frightened by the images and lay out of the once peaceful town. Those that had the power, these individuals did not see it any differently; it was merely an everyday occurrence to them when they went to Tartarus, typical daily thing for them, especially when Dark Hour fell. Ryoji stood staring at the structure in amazement, but also horror; he knew what awaited the members of S.E.E.S. upon the arrival of Nyx or more or less The Fall and as he made a move towards the building the seemingly innocent presence that was enjoying following Ryoji around seemed to appear beside Ryoji as they stared up at the building in a less then impressed sense of awe.

A soft, cheerful, childish laughing voice came from behind Ryoji, "Ryo-kun, you going after Master tonight? Going to get back with Master?"

"That's the plan…" Ryoji tried to sound confident, but he seemed more excited and nervous about running into Minato again, more then anything, "They should be getting here soon enough…"

Alice softly nodded, "I guess I'll leave you to your reunion with Master, but remember, Ryoji, to Master…you are only another Persona to be used in fights…you can never learn to love Master…"

"I'd like to debate that, Alice…"Ryoji turned around to find that Alice had already left and the members of S.E.E.S were starting to make their way to Tartarus, _Time to see if throwing myself into the fight will jog any memories…_


	3. Memories

Chapter 3-Memories

Chapter 3-Memories

_In between the kisses there were hard pants and moans as both figures were fighting for dominance; Stripes had seemed to had gained an upper hand now and again as his delicate fingers would run through the crush blue velvet of Sorrowful's dark locks, gently yanking them now and again. All Sorrowful ever did was give out airy gasps as he would roll his hips up into Stripes that would have the boy almost moaning or in a better sense, almost gasping out as if he was orgasming over Sorrowful, those sounds would always go to one another's groins, just making them harder as they just wished all this playing around would lead to one of them stark naked, pinned under the under, screaming into a pillow as the other rammed the other, over and over, filling the other's tight hole with the hard on heat, just feeling one another inside of one another. But eventually, their "games" would end in just the players getting one another off without any flesh to flesh contact; it had lasted for so long before they had finally settled to doing what they had only dreamed of doing. And in the end, it had been something that was done when both seemed in agreement to doing it so as to not hurt the other, to hurt the other would have been something only would happen if the world was to come to an end, if the World was to come to an end…so would they._

"…_Together…forever…right…?"_

_It had become an unspoken agreement between Stripes and Sorrowful, especially as Stripes lied, tangled up in Sorrowful's arms and legs; their youthful bodies flush against one another. If someone was to walk in, you would not realize there was another body in the bed with Sorrowful, Stripes was buried in close against Sorrowful's frame, but each time Stripes would shift; it seemed to cause a friction against Sorrowful's body, but his soft moaning groans would find themselves buried in Stripes' short, jet black locks. Stripes would eventually settle down and both Stripes and Sorrowful would find themselves in a blissful state of sleep, but come the morning, Stripes would be gone and any memory of what had occurred in their nightly activities would seem more like a dream. No pains, no marks, no signs that anything had come between them, just the simply memory and images scolded into the mental memories upon their minds that only they knew what had happened. It was always the same…Just…memories…_

"Okay, we all know what are parts in this Mission tonight right?" Mitsuru looked at the other team members; in their faces there was still a lingering mourning for Shinji, "…But before we do anything tonight, let us take a moment to remember Shinjiro…He will truly be missed among the S.E.E.S."

Those present, their heads were bowed in submission to the memory of Shinjiro; the one that was missing him the most was Koromaru, but in Akihiko's heart, in his own way, he was missing the man. Shinjiro or simply known as Shinji had been a close friend of Akihiko's, but recently he had been condemned into death and it had left many of the Members saddened, but even still, they had a duty to fulfill. The moment of silence was broken by the sounds of Shadows just a couple of floors above them that placed everyone on high alert as Mitsuru set about giving out orders; Minato, Junpei, and Yukari were to head towards the sounds of the noise while Akihiko would remain with Mitsuru down in the Lobby of Tartarus in case things were to get out of hand for the three whom had been sent towards the action. Ryoji had watched them from shadows and had in his own way given his own condolences for the tragic moment in the friend's lives as he moved towards the sound of the Shadow, or in this case, Shadows. Vicious and ugly looking things they were as Ryoji just simply stared them down.

"…Your reign of terror in this place…ends here tonight…"

The trio was halfway up the stairway towards the sounds of where the creatures had been making their noises when sounds that sounded like an animal's neck being wrangled and strangled seemed to gurgle out in a loud shriek. It reached down the stairways into the ears of those approaching the site as it sent a sickening sense of completion through the inner core of their minds. Sickening it was, but the thing that had them on edge was the sound of a set of what sounded like footsteps echoing down the now deathly quiet stairs, the utter silence was unbearable. It registered images of fear through their minds, what if the Shadows had converged on one another in a way of death dance and had managed to take on human forms, was that what was coming down the stairs? Evokers were at the ready in each of their hands, but as the echoing steps stopped a few steps away from the frightened and shaken S.E.E.S. members, their fear was replaced by a mixed sensation of wonder. What was someone doing in here that from the looks of their attire as well as the lack of blood or marks that could not be seen at the moment, that seemed to possess no Evoker doing in Tartarus and how were they able to go through the Dark Hour without going completely insane from the images around them? No one dared move, staring in disbelief at the visitor staring at them with a soft, upturned smile, beaming from corner to corner of the soft face, it was until Junpei started to lower his Evoker as he took the butt of it scratched at the side of his head with it.

"Man…We thought you would be a Shadow," Junpei was truly the idiot to not have said anything else that was more common knowledge then something as stupid as that.

Yukari gruntingly sighed as she replaced her Evoker into its holster, "Junpei, sometimes I wish the Shadows would get to you and give you an actual brain."

"Huh?"

"Never mind…"

Minato was the one that seemed to move in close against the stranger while Yukari seemed to get into a fight with Junpei about the apparent lack of common sense when it came to people that just seemed to show up expectantly within Tartarus. The mystery of Shadows was still something either person understood completely and for all they knew it could've been a new form of Shadow that once it was close enough to a human they could rip them to shreds, but Minato seemed to be distant to their words as he stood inches from the strange visitor's face. Minato's seemingly distant and lack of occupancy eyes seemed to look into the vibrant and occupied eyes of the stranger before him; there were several things Minato's mind was suggesting he do. Push the stranger off the edge of the stair way and watch with a devious and sickeningly ideal in his mind to watch him fall to his demise, what good were friends if all they ever did was leave, betray or die? The next idea seemed like a death wish, especially with Yukari and Junpei nearby, the idea was to place his hands around the stranger's face, leaning as his breath hotly tingled over the stranger's lips and capture them and just die in the arms of a shape shifting Shadow if that was what this stranger was. Both ideas sounded delicious, the watching one sounded almost too real to be done to the grieving and non logical part of Minato's mind; why not do it and when he did it, why not fall with the stranger? Death seemed like a far better place then Life. As Minato placed his hands against the stranger's face, an answer was given to him as the stranger placed his forehead against Minato's, his own hands placing themselves delicately over Minato's, the thumbs seemed to soothe the coursing fear through them. The next thing to come was a soft chuckle from those soft lips that were still curled into the upward curved smile as the occupant eyes slowly slid close as the stranger used his mind's eye to focus in on Minato, and when he spoke…

"…I see that you've been…keeping up your end of the Contract…you've been taking responsibility for your actions…I'm glad…Minato…" as the words seemed to slip out slowly, the stranger's eyes slipped open as a new light gained into itself as they shone in the empty lanterns that were Minato's eyes.

The room seemed to spin as Minato fell into Ryoji's arms; Junpei and Yukari seemed to deaf and blind to it all as the hour of Dark Hour seemed to disappearing and in the next morning, Minato was groggy to say the least, but it had been suggested that he take the day off from school. Mitsuru had suggested the order for Minato, but Junpei and Yukari seemed worried; they had told Mitsuru that Minato had been fine, but it had seemed while they had been debating, Minato had slipped into a momentary lapse of unconscious due to lack of proper hours of sleep. Grief had a way of destroying a person's sense of mentality and the ability to cope with things around us or as the case would be, gain back the sleep we were losing over the grief of having to do away with a friend.

Aigis had decided to take on the duty of staying and watching over Minato while the others were at school which left Ryoji without any chances to watch over Minato like he had hoped; he started blaming himself from Minato's reaction. After he had uttered the words to Minato, he had felt the boy go simply limp in his arms which had alerted the formerly squabbling Yukari and Junpei to the fact that something wasn't right. Mitsuru had ordered the others back to the Dorm but she had asked that Akihiko keep Ryoji back even though he had been regarded as a mystery. Akihiko had done so at Mitsuru's command as it was determined that Minato was just exhausted from grief and the fact that they had been on the run with runs to Tartarus one night after another. Ryoji watched on as the simply robotic young woman watched over Minato, brushing hairs out of his face and whispered softly to him in his sleep; it was enough that she had at times shown interest in Minato. That much had been seen through his eyes when he had been only Pharos, but now that he was around once more it was enough to make him cringe to the point that the sound of wood cracking could be heard underneath Ryoji. He knew he should've been in school, but Minato was among his first priorities.

"…Why can't you let it go, Minato…Why do you feel you need to hold onto to the past…or moments of tragedy…?" Aigis softly whispered in her robotic like tone as she seemed to lean over him as to almost kiss Minato; the moments grew tense as Ryoji watched on in horror as she seemed to grow in closer.

Ryoji watched on as the seconds grow closer together until there was a soft hand on his shoulder, "…Master is fine, Ryoji…"

He wanted to believe the voice of Alice, but yet, he couldn't bring himself to believe it, but Aigis could never replace any real sensation of human feeling or emotions towards Minato. And that's just how it was as Ryoji turned his hateful gaze back towards the sight that Aigis had left the room, Minato was alone, alone and confused by the figure he had seen standing there that previous night, alone in wondering why, why this person was here, and confused by the confusing yet all too familiar words he had heard from Pharos. Alone in the ache that Pharos had left in his heart when he had left him and alone in his grief for the lost of Shinji; his hands were stained with Shinji's blood and yet, he was alone in the guilt of knowing, he was Death that had brought a man's death to be so. Ryoji settled back down, but watching Minato just seemed to change him as Ryoji slipped away into Minato's room, keeping a weathered out for Aigis or the others as Ryoji placed himself at Minato's bedside. On the outside, Minato looked as if he was sleeping peacefully, but from what Ryoji could see by touching him, Minato was a storm cloud of confusion, hurt, and anger, most of the anger pointed towards Ryoji. His sleep was like the one in a story he had read with Minato one night when he was Pharos; the story had been about a Princess that had believed she had lost her one true love which had caused her to fall into a deep sleep that could only be broken by her lost love's kiss.

No one ever said that fairy tales could be based into reality, but Ryoji was willing to take that chance, "…Time that the Princess awoke…to the World…"

The bed seemed to creak as Ryoji straddled his arms on either side of Minato's head as Ryoji sat on the bedside; it had been almost too long since Ryoji had been this close to Minato, especially when he was sleeping, the first time he had tried kissing Minato when he was asleep, it had ended in heads knocking together. Ryoji softly chuckled at the old memory; the sight of trying to apologize for knocking into Minato like that had ended in Minato just apologizing in his own way of kissing Pharos on the head where it had happened. And Pharos had leaned in that time to kiss Minato's forehead, but it had turned into more then just a simple kiss to the forehead; it had also been the first time that Pharos had found out what it felt like to be pleasured and had fulfilled the ache that had time and time again had left Pharos at that time feeling empty.

"…Back then, we were so ignorant to the feelings that were there…but now…" Ryoji's breath was hot as it wafted around Minato's mouth and nose; his breath was stronger then any kind of smelling salts.

Ryoji had no time to react as sheets flew to the side in a flutter as they seemed to flutter back into place as Ryoji found himself staring up confused and scared at first into Minato's half closed eyes, and it took only a short moment for what was going on the effect of Minato's lips pressing in hard against Ryoji's to register in his mind and as the mind finally realized it.

Minato softly pulled away, but Ryoji wasn't going to let it go away as he grabbed onto the collar of Minato's clothes pulling him back down on him, legs slightly shifting open further as Ryoji fought to keep Minato flush against his body as his hips rolled in against Minato's. A gurgled moan came from Minato as the next instinct that came to Ryoji was to stop fighting the of the wet probe that was coming at his lips as all receptors in his brain seemed to open flood gates of submission as his lower jaw dropped open in which Minato took full advantage of. Minato also took advantage of Ryoji's invitation as he rolled his hips back just as hard against Ryoji's smaller frame which earned Minato a bite to his tongue which had him backing up and off, but his fingers had found their way around Ryoji's suspenders, pulling him back to him again as Minato dragged his teeth against Ryoji's lips, bruising them hard before his tongue was deep in Ryoji's throat, toying with his tonsils. If it went any further, it would've been tickling his vocal chords and that would've silenced the soft whimpers making their way up his throat as Ryoji's fingers clawed in through Minato's scalp. Raking it and clawing it, sinking the fingertips just in a matter of not drawing any blood but he was desperate, passion was on high adrenaline as the only sounds coming from both boys was the sound of air escaping and entering through harsh and shallow gulps received through their noses. Ryoji's mouth and head tilted itself while rolling down on Minato's hips like a waterfall while filling his mouth with the submission of full exploration of all the senses within his mouth, and the adrenaline rush that was washed over him voided him from feeling Minato's hands massaging and feeling him from the front and back. One hand had grabbed a hold of the forming bulge in the front of Ryoji's pants as the other hand squeezed in hard against his posterior, Ryoji had all but screamed but Minato was going to permit such acts. Ryoji had come on to him, and now, he would pay the consequences; Ryoji found himself thrown back down onto his back with Minato thrust hard up between Ryoji's legs as the bucking started as his hips rolled in hard, allowing Ryoji's clothed lower half to feel that Minato had not yet forgotten how it felt to feel someone's throbbing loins prodding at him; he had not forgotten that feeling with Pharos.

"AAH!" Ryoji attempted to scream but it was voided as Minato's teeth and lips were back to bruising his already bruising lips as the cycle continued as almost like a ravenous claws clawed Ryoji's pants from off of him, suspenders were moved down and off his shoulders.

Ryoji was at a loss for control, all ability to move his wrists or even his hands were stopped momentarily as Ryoji looked confused and almost frightened at the sight of them being wrapped up by the piece of leather that had been holding one side of his pants up. The other piece of leather was wrapped around Ryoji's mouth in which he was ordered to bite down on it as an odd contraption was rigged, both wrists were held up against the head of the bed and the legs were spread into a almost T shape so that they hung out like dead turkey legs, but it also showed off the tight little hole that seemed to wink at Minato. It was the possibly perfect way to have full access to Ryoji without Ryoji trying to resist or fight him off; all bets were off as to what had caused this sudden rush of domination. Ryoji watched on in almost horror as Minato came at him again, rolling his still clothed hips in against Ryoji's bare erection and naked form as gagged groan with an almost feral moan came from Ryoji as Minato continued it over and over, just watching the sight of Ryoji thrashing about against the leather straps as they dug themselves in harder against the already sweating limbs of his body, his hole was almost crying. Crying was an odd statement to make for something that had no mouth or ability to speak, but the soft trickle of Ryoji's pre-cum was making it almost look like it was crying, crying out for attention. Minato didn't know whether or not to attribute the seemingly what could've been hallucination to the lack of sleep and his grief over Shinji's death, but for the life of him; it didn't matter.

Minato softly leaned in against Ryoji's half slit eyes, they were dazzled with pleasuring lust but a small hint of unknowing fear of what was going to happen next; it had been so long since he had seen this side of Minato, "…Do you want me in you…?"

Ryoji softly nodded, his lips trying to form words through the gag, but Minato knew what he was saying, "…I'm going to need to prepare you first…or else its going to hurt," Minato started to trace his fingers around his own mouth and as he prepared to slip a finger into his own mouth to wet it, but the sound of Ryoji thrashing and the headboard creaking against the metal and leather contraption keeping him at bay stopped him in his tracks, as a seemingly dark smirk came on his face, "…You are such a little slut…Don't you remember the last time we did it without preparation or lubrication…?"

How could Ryoji forget…?

"_AAH! NMNGH!! AAH! AAUGH!" Stripes screamed out from under Sorrowful; the pain was almost unbearable, it was worse then the ache that had been there for as long as Stripes could remember after each time he had spent with Sorrowful._

_Sorrowful seemed more eager then usual; both hands had flushed up under Stripes' shirt and started tweaking with the nubs on his chest, unrelenting no matter how much Stripes squirmed, mewled, and moaned, but what hurt the most was the fact that Sorrowful had only gotten Stripes' stripped bottoms down far enough so that his tight little hole was showing before he started to dryly ram into Stripes. Stripes immediately had gotten silent in a way as he lay out on Sorrowful's lap as the only way Stripes had to balance himself was clawing his fingers into Sorrowful's shoulders Sorrowful forcefully and roughly rammed Stripes' young body down on the throbbing loins that were ramming constantly in against one particular spot. Just as soon as Stripes thought Sorrowful had lost a notch of speed, he would only change the angle of how Stripes was placed upon his lap as he would continue to ram, ram hard and fast. There was no fluid that had been used and no preparation, just pure, rough, unadulterated heat that was filling Stripes, but even after the heat had died down and Stripes was allowed to replace his striped pants to around his hips once more, the sensation was both the after release feeling of release during sex seemed to be not the only thing that was wetting the stripes. Something red now dotted the fabric; never again did Sorrowful act roughly with Stripes._

Ryoji seemed to relax after a time as all that moved was his chest as it rose and fall, but the dark glare on his face would not disappear; it was the only that remained, especially the ache in Ryoji's thighs from being propped up for so long. Sweat was trickling along his thighs, pooling in near the sorely tight hole but in the faint light of the room, the sweat seemed to tickle on the tiny bubs that had risen on Ryoji's chest from all the excitement. His eyes said it all, he had started all this excitement, grown them both hard and leaving now was not an option; it didn't matter it was rough and dry as long as there was some kind of connection between them, all of it was read by Minato's face as the bed creaked again, leaning in close against Ryoji's face as the fingers toyed with removing the leathered gag on Ryoji's mouth, but it was all a waste of effort when a feral growl came from Ryoji as all his body could do was buck at the air for attention; he was hungry for attention, the attention he knew he deserved for so long and the longer Minato toyed with that, the more he was going to growl at him.

Minato's hand softly patted the outer part of the outstretched thigh, "Calm down...you'll get what you want…you can wait one more minute to get laid again…"

If Ryoji had the ability to kick Minato, he would've done it and gotten it over with, but he wasn't at liberty to do such a thing as he knew all he could do was just lie, tied up, and take it. Minato didn't want to rush things and yet he didn't want to make Ryoji wait much longer as his hand ghosted over Ryoji's wet little hole, slipping in digit after digit, stretching and widening it out as he watched Ryoji thrash the way he liked to watch him thrash as he knew that he had hit something sensitive in Ryoji. How he knew that had done it, it was in the way Ryoji's head flew back and his leg muscles seemed to grow tight with sounds ripping from the deepest part of his throat as more and more hot air was being pulled in through Ryoji's nostrils. Minato kept at it as he started to see Ryoji's legs shaking in anticipation or the way his hips seemed to buck at the air, tempting Minato to attend to that while preparing him, but Minato had other things in mind.

Everything seemed to stop as Minato leaned over Ryoji, "…I knew who you were the minute I saw you in that tree…I was only cold to you because I didn't know how to react…I couldn't let the others know about us…"

Ryoji seemed to register the minds through the lusted haze hanging in his mind as he seemed to raise his head up against Minato's cheek, nuzzling against it, but his body seemed to move in and up and with him as a soft squeaking mewl came from behind the bind as he had unconsciously had impaled himself on the digits. But Minato knew what it was as the other hand moved the bind away, softly capturing the bruised and bite marked lips, faintly kissing at each mark as the hand moved away to releasing his own throbbing to the air which made him hiss. The hiss was brought by the feeling of the hot heat that had grown into the room from what could almost smell like a sauna and hot sex but it was also brought on by the way Ryoji forcefully bit down on Minato's lower lip, ravishing it and suckling on it till Minato was completely aware of it; a distraction was needed to keep Ryoji's mind off the pending sexual encounter. Minato's hands wrapped around Ryoji's waist as he kept all his upper weight into the kiss as he angled his hips to ram into Ryoji; the boy was ready and properly ready, never again would he ever make that pain from that time happen again. The room started to spin upon the first heavy thrust as Ryoji's head fell back, but Minato's soft kisses were bringing his head back, no matter how hard or fast the thrusts were coming and no matter how much heat was swimming through his body and head. Minato's kisses were merely the sedative to all of that as both gained a steady and even rhythm as in the final moments and the first in any of their times together, both coated one another in their sweet, heated release.

Once core temperatures had dropped far enough and Minato's mind had returned to a state of normalcy; he was able to release Ryoji from the leather bonds contraption and as he gathered Ryoji into his arms, he softly kissed at the marks left by the sweat covered inner banding of the leather bands. Ryoji was exhausted to every extent that all that left his lips were soft mewls at the feeling as he lay exhausted in Minato's arms, the feeling in his legs was slowly returning but the marks left on them from the anklets would have to wait. Neither one was up for another go around and it felt good to just rest peacefully in one another's arms; as the day dragged on and the others came home, Ryoji had found himself sitting at Minato's side watching Minato sleep peacefully, no one could know of their past together or how they knew one another even now.


End file.
